What I made, by Sharon

We had a long weekend because Friday was the day before a football game and we  borrowed my parent's car to go for a trail run in Werribee Gorge.  The weather was perfect, the running was great - although it was hard hilly trails, so there was a lot of walking mixed in  there. We saw a pair of Wedge Tailed Eagles - I think one of them might be in this picture, otherwise enjoy the beautiful sunny sky!  It was just perfect. We also saw a giant rabbit and a kangaroo nonchalantly hopped past. It was only 13 kms, so we followed it up with brunch in Bacchus Marsh, and then an afternoon of relaxing (hello reading and spinning!). We had dinner at my parents and I once again failed to take photos. Saturday morning we did the necessary household tasks and then did even more relaxing. In the evening we went to the city and had ramen at a new and very delicious ramen place.  Followed by Six, the musical. It's such a fun show, full of bangers. Recommend. On Sunday the weathe...

This is Gnock. He's the latest mystery gnome from Sarah Schira and he was an absolute pleasure to knit. He has so much personality - for example most people's Gnock's are female, but mine definitely told me he is a boy. He also demanded I knit him arms. The first thing he did after I finished him was go for a little holiday. He enjoyed the rainforest. and found meditating on a mushroom very relaxing And now he's happy to be sitting in his permanent spot, with his arm around his sister Gnorwen  . She's not so sure about sharing her space with her huge older brother, but she's starting to appreciate the company!  

Thanks to all who sent good thoughts for my Father. He's out of hospital and seems perfectly fine, so that's a great outcome.  I read and loved  The Book Keeper  by Sarah Painter . That blend of relationship-based urban fantasy was exactly what I was in the mood for. Then I tried to read  Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes . While Moyes writes nicely I found all the characters annoying and the idea that high heels could ever make life better is repugnant. I moved on to  Derring-Do for Beginners  by Victoria Goddard.  I love Victoria Goddard. All her books are set in the same universe, but different times, so this is the backstory for some characters we are very familiar with. Delightful.  In audiobooks, I'm about to finish a rather silly freebee  Mad Love by Wendy Walker.  It's full cast, so it feels like listening to a radio play. It's fine. It describes itself as a thriller, but there is nothing particularly thrilling about it. The ...

I took a personal day on Friday. It's been a weird time, with everyone at work on various types of leave, and my father in hospital, so I took a day to help my family and to take care of myself. I drove my mother to the hospital (my father is fine, and is home now) and thought about what to knit next. I've just finished a hat and jumper charity: And I decided to knit a Kate Davies shawl with the oldest yarn in my stash, which also happens to be handspun, which I spun during the dark days of 2021 : This is quite simple lace, but it's still lace, and needs a bit of concentration . Then I took the second oldest yarn in my stash, which is some Bendigo cotton that I bought to make Shelley Husband crotchet squares. Which i did, particularly  when I had covid . But, after a lot of squares, I've completely lots interest in the blanket. I never finish blankets for myself, and I don't want a cotton blanket anyway, but I do need a new bathmatt: It's going quite well. I...

Oh, the name of this post is really ordinary! What I've been doing is a little more exciting.  I'm currently reading Maggie O'Farrell's  The Distance Between Us  , which I must have bought on special at some point, because it was just kind of there on my Kobo.  I'm enjoying it, although it pops between timelines with no notifications, so the reader needs to work it out, based on context clues.  I'm not normally a mood reader but my father is in hospital, and while it seems like he'll be fine,  I think I need a comfort read next - so I'll be reading  The Book Keeper (Unholy Island, #2) by Sarah Painter  . I'm listening to  Kissing Girls on Shabbat by Sara Glass  . It's her memoir of growing up in an ultra religious Jewish household. I'm really enjoying it, and finding her point of view very calm and measured.  I'm still knitting a the gnome: I've finished clue four and now there is just one to go. I'll be stuffing him this afternoo...

I'm going to count my weekend from Friday, even though I was working on Friday. I finished Elise's cardigan and took photos:  She's overseas right now, so we'll have to wait a couple of weeks to take modelled photos. Friday night we were at my parents for dinner with the whole family and, as usual, I failed to take any pictures.  Saturday morning Leon and I ran 18 kilometres down the beach. The weather was a little miserable, but I don't think I've ever been quite so happy on a long run! Then I went to Pole where I graded! This means that I am now in intermediate and will be learning some more complicated tricks. Fun! Saturday evening I went out to dinner with Skip, Bee and Megan and then to Leon's choir concert at the Malthouse. Sunday morning was relaxing around the house and doing the cleaning, before heading off to a gin festival. This was a lot of fun. Many gins were tried and some bottles were purchased. It did wipe me out for the rest of the day, and ...

I'm reading  Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff.  It's the second in the series, and it's a very dark take on vampires. I loved the first book, which I read when it came out in 2021. I remember sitting in the park that spring, when it was just (probably) legal to sit in parks. And now it's spring 3 years later and I'm loving this dark action adventure. The third one doesn't have a release date yet, and I really do have to stop starting series that are not finished yet! Empire of the Damned is 700 pages long, it's been a while since I read a book that I could really get my teeth into (pun intended). Next up is  And Then It Was September  by Wendy Day. I got it through NetGalley, but it's also free on Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited. I mainly requested it for the cover, although this is the tagline:  A missing necklace, a backpack full of photos, and two women trying to outrun their families' expectations. It sounds like a good read. In audio, l...

Remember when it felt like everyone was knitting the same things? I guess there were fewer good patterns around, or maybe my knitting group was just more united. Monkey by Cookie A, and Clapotis from Knitty leap to mind. For whatever reason, a couple of weeks ago I decided to -put Monkey socks on my sOctober knitting list. On Wednesday Kat mentioned she was knitting them, and the comments reflect some fondness for that time.  The pair of Monkeys I made in 2010 My knitting group would go through waves of all buying the same yarn - Collintette Jitterbug (and it's dramas)  and Wollmeise leap to mind. Wollmeise used to do their updates at midnight on Fridays and I would drink red wine and press refresh.  I came to blogging just as it peaked, in January 2011 and I'm still here, tapping away. I accidentally quit Instagram a couple of months ago, and I don't really miss it - all those moving pictures. I do miss the lifestyle bloggers who became Instragramers, and who are most...

  Welcome to part 16 in a series of non-fiction book reviews, originally based on the idea that the books I request tell you everything you need to know about me.  I have, after so many chapters of this series, realised that all these posts say about me is that have eclectic taste and endless curiosity. This time I am finding calm, exploring Wes Anderson and playing chanukah games for kids. Eclectic indeed! All books are kindly provided as e-Arcs through NetGalley in exchange for honest reviews. Calm in 40 Images : The Art of finding Serenity   The School of Life (releases10 December 2024) Returning readers will be aware that I love a book about finding peace, or calm, or tranquility. I meditate and try to live in the moment and mindfully and all that. This book appealed to me for the title, and the front cover image. The description states this is:  A psychological guidebook that can help to quieten our worries and bring on a new mood of serenity and ease.  Kno...

The books have been all NetGalley for this week. I finished    The Red House Mystery  by A.A. Milne , which made me realise that I just don't really like golden age of mystery books much. It did take me 10 novels to realise that. I guess I'm a slow learner! Then I read  Frankie  by Graham Norton.   It's a very wholesome story of Frankie, who is 80 a telling her life story to her carer, in flashbacks. It's very character driven, and I'm enjoying it immensely. I hadn't read any Graham Norton (and until I just looked him up I think I was confusing him with Julian Clarey, oops) and it's a really well written, immersive story. I know I said last week that this was my last review book for the month, but NetGalley was offering the Amazon Original  Natural Selection: A Short Story by Elin Hilderbrand , so that's up next. I'm also listening to a NetGalley book -  Rachel Weiss's Group Chat by Lauren Appelbaum . It's the story of the eponymous Rachel We...

On Friday after work we headed up to Bendigo for Bendigo on the hop, a beer festival we have been to (I think) three times before. This year it was just me and Leon, so we took ourselves out for a fancy dinner before going to bed early. We knew Saturday was going to be a big day. On Saturday morning we got up (always a good start!) and ran 15 kms. We didn't realise that the canal path doesn't actually go far enough for that distance, so we got to do a lap of the lake on the way back.  Then we cleaned up and got some breakfast and headed to the woollen mill. Last week Kate Davies released a cardigan pattern and I had that in mind when I was shopping. I got this stunning yarn - it's a dark teal and had a strand of shiny, although it's not sparkle yarn. I got the "recycled fibre" wool as the contrast colour. I suspect it's made of the scraps from the mill floor, and I really like it.   I also picked up a kilogram of fibre from the backroom, because it was c...